Utopia, Ohio

Utopia is an unincorporated community in far southern Franklin Township, Clermont County, Ohio, United States, along the banks of the Ohio River. Utopia has been referred to as a "ghost town" although there are still people who live there.GeographyUtopia is located on the northern bank of the Ohio River in the southeast corner of Clermont County, in southwest Ohio. It lies along U.S. Route 52.First settlementUtopia was founded in 1844 by the followers of Charles Fourier, after the failure of an earlier Fourierist phalanstère called the Clermont Phalanx. Fourier's writings inspired his readers to create their own utopian society — hence the name "Utopia."Within three years, the community broke up. It was soon reorganized by Josiah Warren, who founded the town as a means of a small cooperative community that could still carry out functions like the outside world. For instance, the town existed with a market economy and the belief in owning private property.First settlersThe sect believed that the world would enter a 35,000-year-long period of peace, and that in order to achieve enlightenment, they must live in communes with one another. Fourier's followers had attracted several families to live in Utopia for the fee of $25 a year, and in turn each family would receive a wooden house on a small parcel of land.